This paper analyzes the emergence of a new type of political actor: young, openly gay, liberal politicians who embody both modern cosmopolitanism and technocratic competence. Figures such as Gabriel Attal (France), Pete Buttigieg (United States), and Rob Jetten (Netherlands) exemplify a reconfiguration of political masculinity that departs from traditional heteronormative ideals while remaining compatible with centrist liberal politics. Their rise challenges traditional patterns of political representation by normalizing a certain kind of LGBTIQ+ visibility within centrist and liberal parties, while simultaneously reconfiguring what “diversity politics” means in an era of backlash against gender and identity issues.
Drawing on a comparative case study design and a mixed-methods approach – analyzing both social media content and mainstream media coverage – the paper examines how these politicians perform and communicate masculinity and sexual orientation in ways that negotiate between authenticity, respectability, and leadership credibility.
The paper argues that these politicians illustrate a strategic adaptation of masculinity and sexual orientation to polarized cultural landscapes shaped by the mainstreaming of queer identities and the resurgence of anti-“woke” and anti-gender sentiment. Their political success depends on an identity politics of normalcy, emphasizing professionalism, pragmatism and moderation. They perform and represent a certain form of gay visibility that differs from more politicized queer visibility or queer politics. This performance of depoliticized diversity constitutes a liberal, respectable masculinity that both challenges and reproduces existing gendered power orders.
By situating openly gay liberal politicians within debates on political masculinities, the paper expands understanding of how masculinities are reconstructed in contemporary democracies. It shows that even inclusive or progressive masculinities can reinforce the conditional boundaries of liberal pluralism and illuminate how gender and sexuality remain central to the performance of political authority. The paper concludes that these figures reveal the evolving boundaries of LGBTIQ+ acceptance and the conditional nature of liberal pluralism in contemporary democracies.
